Director Naoko Yamada, who has worked on “K-ON! The Movie” and “A Silent Voice”, has released her long-awaited latest work “Your Color”, a story of “music x youth” created with soft colors and powerful brushstrokes. It has been exhibited at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival 2024 in France, and has attracted attention from all over the world.
After auditioning 1600 people, the main characters were won by Sayu Suzuki as Totsuko Higurashi, Akari Takaishi as Kimi Sakunaga, and Daisei Kido as Rui Kagehira. We asked them about their feelings when they took on the challenge of voice acting for the first time, and how they approached the roles and breathed life into them.
— Were you originally interested in becoming a voice actor?
Akari Takaishi (hereinafter, Takaishi): Of course. There are many genres of acting, and I’m interested in all of them. Among them, I think there are many things about the job of voice acting that you can’t really understand until you enter that world, but I’ve loved anime since I was little, so voice acting was one of my dreams.
Sayu Suzuki (hereinafter, Suzuki): I’m a voice actor otaku and an anime otaku, so of course I’ve always wanted to do this. I set goals for myself, like “I want to do this kind of work at this age!”
Takaishi: Wow!
Suzuki: In the 20s section, I wrote “anime voice actor.” I never thought my dream would come true so soon, and I even got to play the lead role. It was a truly dreamlike time.
Kido Daisei (hereinafter, Kido): I’ve been watching anime since I was little, so (voice acting) was a job I wanted to try at least once.
–What were your thoughts when you actually took on the challenge?
Takaishi: When I stood in front of the microphone, I thought, “Ah, this is it…!” While enjoying the recording in the silent space unique to the dubbing booth, I also had to adjust the temperature and be careful about how I held the book. There were many new things, so it was difficult, but I thought it was good to try new things for the first time.
–How did you approach the role?
Takaishi: Totsuko, Kimi, and Rui each have their own different worries, and I think it was really important for me to be able to empathize with the worries that Kimi was facing.
For example, Kimi is tormented by the gap between the face she shows to her grandmother and friends at school and what she thinks. In the midst of this, she meets a trustworthy friend and grows. It’s natural that the face she shows to others is different, but we can’t take that for granted. We find ourselves wondering “why are we different?” and comparing ourselves to others… I felt that these barriers and worries were similar to mine, so I empathized with them and got into the role.
Suzuki: When I read the script, I thought Totsuko was similar to me. Not only in terms of personality, but I also studied classical ballet when I was little. But I wasn’t very good at it (laughs). We had those kinds of things in common. Also, when I did the voice recording, I was a third-year high school student, the same age as Totsuko and the others. That’s why, rather than creating something big, I thought I’d like to take on the role as my real self.
–Your hairstyles are matching today, and you really look like Totsuko.
Suzuki: Thank you. I’m glad to hear so many people say that.
–What about you, Kido?
Kido: When the three of us lined up, I thought it was important to think about what color the character of Rui-kun would be. Although he is of a different gender from the two of them, I wanted to be a band team of comrades that the viewers would not even notice. When I thought about it, I wanted Totsuko to be a boy that you can easily approach and want to be with. In terms of vocal technique, I tried to create a warm sound…for example, a voice that is a little higher than my natural voice, or a boyish innocence depending on the scene. I hope it will lead to a sense of security for the two of them, making them think, “I’m with this kid, I can make music.”
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